View full sizeBruce Ely / OregonianJeff Pendergraph and the Portland Trail Blazers will have to stay pumped up to finish strong and remain in the playoff race.The Portland Trail Blazers enter the final third of the 2009-10 season in strong position for another playoff run, which is remarkable considering all they have endured to this point (injuries, new players, lineup and rotation changes, shouting matches, leaked photos ... and the list goes on).

The Blazers (31-24) currently sit as the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference playoff picture, just five games behind Denver in the Northwest Division race and only three games out of the third playoff seed.

Portland is 18-11 at home this season and an even 13-13 away from the Rose Garden. They are 5-5 vs. Northwest Division teams and 20-13 against teams in the Western Conference.

Through their first 55 games (the most in the NBA, by the way, and the most for the Blazers since the 1979-80 season) the Blazers are 17-17 against teams currently .500 or better, while 14-7 against sub-.500 teams. The Blazers are an impressive 10-3 in the second game of back-to-backs, and 21-21 every other night.

With 55 games down, here's a look at the final 27 games in Portland's push for the playoffs.

• 12 home games, 15 away games
• 13 games remaining against teams currently in playoff position, meaning teams in the Top 8 of their respective conference.
• 14 games against team outside of the Top 8.
• 19 games vs. Western Conference
• 8 games vs. Eastern Conference
• 6 games against the Northwest Division
• 14 games against teams with a .500-or-better record
• 13 games against teams currently sub.-500

The following is a look, by month, at the remainder of the schedule with Portland's win-loss record against in parentheses.